


“You love me as if I deserve you.”

by courageous_boss



Series: Three Birds and a Baby (a Batfamily AU) [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Damian is sick, Dick freaks out, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 17:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16520408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/courageous_boss/pseuds/courageous_boss
Summary: Dick thinks he broke the baby.





	“You love me as if I deserve you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ages: Damian – 1  
> Dick – 12  
> Jason – 15

“The baby’s sick,” Jason reported, face straight and voice even. But, Bruce could see the worry in his eyes and the thick knot in his throat.

“Hmm,” Bruce hummed, already pushing himself to stand. He’d just settled in for power session of paperwork that _just had to be done_. Alfred was away for the weekend though and if Damian really was ill, he’d need to be tended to.

“He’s running a fever and he won't stop crying,” Jason said, trailing Bruce to the nursery. Bruce could hear the baby’s wailing now, but he was more preoccupied with the lack of a certain, hyperactive boy.

Jason, of course, sharp as a whip, picked up on it. “I think it’s scaring Dick.”

Bruce nodded, turning the thought over in his head. He wondered if Dick himself had ever been sick before, or if the treatment he’d suffered at the Court had prevented such things from happening. He checked on Damian first. The baby was screaming his tiny lungs out but quickly quieted down to hiccupping noises once he saw them enter. Immediately, he began making grabby hands, cooing softly once Jason had him cuddled against his chest.

“Let’s see,” Bruce pressed a hand softly against Damian's forehead. He covered the boy’s entire head and the entire interaction looked a bit ridiculous. “Not too warm. And his breathing sounds fine. It’s probably just a mild cold.”

He got some Baby’s Tylenol into Damian and waited until Damian had fallen asleep before searching out Dick. Dick was adorable, really. He hadn’t aged much since Bruce had seen him covered in blood and weeping over shattered bones and deformed skulls. He should really look twenty-two, but his face was tiny and round and twelve years old. He was too sweet and too smiley, and Bruce couldn’t fathom his strength. So, Bruce couldn’t understand why Dick had left Damian alone when the baby was obviously distressed.

“Dick?” Bruce knocked on the boy’s door, even though he always left it wide open.

Dick was curled up on the bed, wrapped in his thick blanket. Looking closer, Bruce saw that he was trembling.

“Dickie? Are you okay?” Bruce asked, not encroaching Dick’s personal bubble. In times like these, when he wasn’t sure of how safe Dick felt around him, he was always careful not to push his limits.

Dick faced him with the biggest, bluest, saddest eyes Bruce had ever seen and the man felt his chest ache. “I, I broke Dami. I’m so sorry, B. I, I didn’t mean to.”

Bruce sighed, “Chum – ”

“No, it’s just. We were playing this morning and I was showing him how to tumble. And. He. He must have hit his head or something. I’m really sorry, B.”

Bruce watched, heart heavy and stomach rolling as Dick lamented. Dick’s chest was rising and falling rapidly and there were walls of tears over his eyes. Slowly, he approached the bed, waiting for Dick to scoot over before he sat beside him.

“You didn’t break the baby,” Bruce said, very seriously.

Dick sniffled, blinking at him.

“Damian is just sick. Have you ever been sick before?”

Dick shook his head, crawling onto Bruce’s lap and snuggling into his chest. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Of course he is,” Bruce rubbed a hand down Dick’s back, feeling the knobs of his spine and reminding himself to get the boys a snack soon. “His body is fighting off some bacteria. He’ll feel a bit warm and he might sniffle and cough, but when he’s done he’ll be as good as new.”

“So,” Dick pushed his face into Bruce’s shirt, “he’ll be okay?”

“I promise he will.”

Dick sighed, his relief flowing through his shoulders. Bruce could feel his lips quirk into a smile.

“I love you, B.”

“I know, Dick. I, I love you too,” Bruce said, dropping a kiss to Dick’s head and holding him close. But, his heart was hurting all over again, throbbing with the intense kind of pain that made him want to throw up. Because Dick loved him so much – loved all of them. He treated like family and regarded them as though they’d hung the sun just so he could bask in its warmth.

Dick loved them as though they deserved him. Dick loved _him_ as though he deserved him. And Bruce knew that he didn’t.


End file.
